Engine Stand

[npanne]

Quick question for anyone who's used an engine stand before - what is the recommended method of connecting engine (6 cylinder) to said stand?

Some people seem to connect them with the back plate in situ (bolts through back plate holes),and others take the back plate off and put bolts straight into the block.

Any advice - pros or cons to either? It's more for storage than rebuilding purposes, so not fussed about access.

Cheers
Neil

[irish44j]

If you don't need to work on it, just store it, I would go with something a bit more low-tech (and virtually free):

A regular 4-wheel dolly with a couple extra 2x4's on the edge set to the width of the bottom bracket

Just roll it under your workbench or something :)


you can see it on the left here

[mikeyb]

I've done it both ways.  However if you are planning on doing a strip down, removing crank etc  on the stand, it is better to take the back plate off first.

But if it's just for storage then I'd go for the home made skate as above - takes up less space.  Casters available from Machine mart etc for around a tenner!

[JohnD]

The block is supposed to hang from the back plate, so that's what I do, though in use the front of the engine is also supported, so the stresses aren't the same.    If you remove the rear crank oil seal housing before you put it on the stand, removing or replacing the crank is easy.

If you can, then keep a dedicated back plate for engine builds.   Then those abnormal stresses that might distort the plate are not a worry.  Cut a bigger hole in the middle so you can get at the rear oil seal bolts while it's on the stand.

John

[ghr630]

I have a Machine Mart stand and I have redrilled the mounting plate to bolt up to the engine mounting pad on the exhaust side of the block. I have biased to one end so the pivot is almost central and swivels OK. Means that I have unrestricted access to both ends and the ancillary side of the engine etc.

[GT6 Mike]

Same as above, there are some pictures on my blog - March 2007